147. | Back on two wheels

On Saturday I rented a motorbike again to see a few more places nearby. Let’s just say that this is a funny phrase because everything on this island is pretty close.

Today’s visit plan was:

• Ban Thai Beaches
• Tarnim Magic Garden
• Silver Beach

I accidentally discovered a place called Tarnim Magic Garden on the map that morning, so I set off for these three places. Which by the end of the day became five, but no one is surprised by that anymore.

I rented the motorbike from the same place, the guy who rented it greeted me like I knew him, and asked how many days I was taking the bike: one or two. I took the same motorbike that I took the first time.

And I felt just as good in the saddle this time…

Ban Thai Beaches

I have visited quite a few beaches in Thailand – and I can say since yesterday that it is not only Koh Samui. When I saw this beach, I thought that this is one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. Okay, Ko Wua Ta Lap, which was introduced in yesterday’s post titled “Ang Thong National Park”, will be hard to beat. But still!

The blueness of the sea, the brownness of the sand, the grace of the palm trees reaching to the sky immediately created a great atmosphere in me. There were already a few people on the narrow beach. To get to the narrow strip of land on the right side of the beach, I had to walk the entire beach, and then I climbed a small hill to the strip of land that marked the edge of the bay. There were trees providing shade, stone tables and chairs offering opportunities to relax, an octopus statue and a prayer house.

Sitting at one of the shady tables, I did several things. First, I just admired the view. Then I meditated a bit. Finally, listening to some really good music, I just enjoyed being in such a beautiful place again.

After the relaxing exercises, I went to the other side of the beach, which, unlike the right side, is a symbol of the modern world. I stopped by for an expensive watermelon smoothie, where there were more staff than customers at the moment I arrived. I only spent enough time to drink the drink, so I can’t say much about this place, but. if you like nice and trendy places, then this is worth stopping by, if for nothing else, at least for a drink.

Mr. Mong Samui View Point

On the way to the next station, I accidentally came across this lookout point. I was thirsty, and here a drink counter that was clearly visible from the road was calling me. I stopped for a cold drink and then realized what a great lookout point I had stumbled upon.

 

There were plenty of seats on a platform. Chairs, tables, the beautiful view… Not far from the platform where I was taking photos, there were excellent selfie spots for guests who were receptive to this. When I was there, there were four of us in the area. The lady at the counter, another lady who was working hard and weeding under the platform, and after sitting for a few minutes, I noticed that the third lady was sleeping peacefully right below me in the shade of the platform.

Tarnim Magic Garden

Secret Buddha Garden, also known as Magic Garden and Heaven’s Garden and Tarnim Magic Garden is a private sculpture park atop Pom Mountain (also called Khun Nim Peak), one of the highest peaks on the resort island of Ko Samui in Surat Thani Province, Thailand.

The site is not a wat (temple) but a private undertaking by a retired durian farmer Khun Nim Thongsuk who began building it in 1976, at the age of 77, and continued to do so until his death at the age of 91. The site features many statues of Buddha and other aspects of Thai Buddhism, and also of birds and snakes and other animals, and a pair of statues of the founder’s parents and a statue depicting him and father holding hands. The main group of statues in the site is a number of angel statues, and a group of musicians. Khun Nim’s tomb is also found on the site, up a short path from the angel statues. The site also features waterfalls within the Garden. The site is a popular tourist attraction despite its remoteness and difficult final climb.

There was a seemingly insignificant half-sentence hidden in the previous description: “The site also features waterfalls within the Garden.” Yes! I finally saw a working waterfall. I even made a video of it, even though they are mini waterfalls.

When I reached the end of the garden, I felt like one of the resourceful characters in one of Jenő Rejtő’s novels, Tamás Bradley’s Strikes Back. The escaped legionnaire encounters a lion roaring in a part of Africa where there are no lions. Looking into the mystery, it turns out that a worker employed for this purpose is roaring to satisfy the tourists’ desire for exoticism.

So, at the deepest point of the garden, I went a little further than others might have thought, and I saw the small garden pump, which is supposed to feed the circulation of the small waterfalls in the garden. It’s okay, I won’t let go of the joy. I finally saw a mini-sized, artificial waterfall under a cube root, but it’s still more than the two large, waterless versions I saw last time.

Of the statues that can be seen here, I liked the ones that were a little tidied up by visitors the most. And of course, the guitar figure. There are many small statues hiding in every corner of the garden, it’s worth taking a good look around.

On the far side of the garden, so to speak, a small path invites you to the area beyond the garden. Here, I found myself in another garden. With strange yellow-trunk trees and the peaceful silence of solitude. This silence lasted until two(!) dogs appeared out of nowhere and started asking me what the hell I was doing there! That they can never walk alone? So, following the dogs’ advice, I quickly left.

After a short rest, I also left the garden.

Wat Lamai

There was only one more stop planned for today, but somehow I slipped past the Lamai temple. As a continuation of the statue day, I saw quite a few beautiful and colorful statues here too.

 

It’s good that you can just come into such places. I don’t bother anyone and no one bothers me either. You can just look around if someone is there, greet each other and everyone continues their work.

I still really like the colors used here, the texture of the paints and their strange shine. And the statues all tell their own stories. Of course, I don’t really understand these stories. That’s why I thought that I could know a lot more about these statues, this religion, these cultural elements.

Silver Beach

There was only one beach left for today. This was also a very fancy place, as the pad thai and fried bananas I ate here at the end of the gallery will show. It was evening for me here.

Because after looking around, I refused the massage, took the pictures, meditated, ordered a dinner. Which was prepared here in about 10x the time it took to prepare it at the market. I won’t say it was very delicious, but while it was being prepared, I read a chapter from my book.

Summary

Except for Silver Beach, it would have been a shame to miss these places. Ban Thai Beaches became my favorite, and Mr. Mong Samui View Point was the best coincidence.

By the way, at midnight I went on a motorbike for a two-hour detour. Then I also checked out Chaweng Beach, which was a particularly good experience, considering that it was past midnight when I was here, so I was alone on the entire beach. We only had to share the space with a big bat. He was flying around, and I was sitting in an armchair watching the moon.

Quite by chance that night, I also found the red light street, through which we greeted each other with the girls as if we were old acquaintances while riding our motorbikes. I mean that they waved very cheerfully, as if we knew each other, so I waved back to them. I did this with great courage, thinking that we wouldn’t see each other anyway. But the end of the street was a dead end, so – after getting lost on the shore of Chaweng Lake to a house that didn’t seem to worry me about dogs, I turned back and walked through the red light district once more. Some of the more thought-provoking names on this street are: Plus One Bar, The Black Sheep Bar, Queen 69 Club, Warm Up Bar, Hot Corner, Position 69 Bar and the Sexy Bar.

I walked on the other side of this lake on Tuesday, I never thought I’d see such things in front of me.

I’m learning more and more about this island…